Members of the Town Hall Building Committee made their case for a $7 million renovation project at a Community Preservation Commission public hearing Wednesday night.

The preservation committee voted unanimously to recommend using $6.1 million in preservation funds for the renovation. Voters will be asked to consider the project at the Annual Town Meeting on May 9.

Before the hearing, building committee members led local residents on tours of the building, noting areas that would be affected by the renovation. The building retains features from when it housed the police department, including jail cells and a shooting range, and has many areas inaccessible to handicapped people.

Committee member Steven Rakitin gave a presentation on the project, which he said would not involve any tax increase.

"One of our original goals was to make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act," he said. "To have a building in 2013 that is not handicapped-accessible is not good."

Rakitin said other priorities included fixing structural issues, improving air quality and increasing the energy efficiency of the building.

"Currently, we're burning oil," he said. "This is a very drafty, leaky building."

Increased efficiency, Rakitin said, would allow the building to open five days a week. High utility costs caused the town to close the building on Fridays.

"The current building is losing 900,000 BTUs a year," he said. "By renovating, we hope to reduce that by half."

Resident Donald Taylor questioned whether renovation was the best choice, as much of the town hall space is devoted to a basketball court and stage.

"You have it as $381 per square foot, but only about half of that is office space," he said. "That's closer to $800-$900 per square foot."

Committee members said it didn't make sense to parse out the cost that way, noting the entire building must be made accessible.

"There's not a premium being paid because it's historical," said project architect Wendall Kalsow. "It's comparable to new construction."

Selectman Robert Fleming said he believed it was about time the town took action.

"I believe this is the fifth time we've looked at renovating the town hall, and we still don't have handicapped-accessibility," he said. "It would be tragic if we moved on."

Fleming said construction costs would only increase with time.

"The police station was built for $1 million. Try to do that today," he said. "The fire station was built for $750,000. Try to do that today."

The preservation committee agreed to recommend a funding scenario that would take $2 million from current accounts and borrow the remaining $4.1 million for the project. That would account for $6.1 million of the $6.5 million remaining on the project (voters at Town Meeting had already approved $500,000 toward the effort).